Ride-sharing business Uber launched in Pennsylvania in February 2014 and, even though it’s still illegal in Philadelphia, the San Francisco company estimates 77 percent of the state’s residents now have access to its UberX ride-sharing platform.
Even if that estimate is accurate, there are several groups still left off the growing ride-sharing platforms.
Neither Uber nor its largest rival Lyft can regularly provide handicapped-accessible vehicles, for instance, since drivers use their own personal cars. The app-based services also exclude people without Internet access and those who don’t own smartphones because, unlike traditional taxis or car services, they offer no central phone number to call to book a ride.
But a group of civic-minded programmers in California are working toward a solution to at least part of that access problem.
TextBer, which is still in beta-testing phase, is meant to allow nonsmartphone users to summon an UberX vehicle via text message. The service is not available for Lyft or other ride-sharing companies, in part because the concept was developed during a recent hackathon sponsored by Uber and uses that company’s application programming interface.
“I was inspired by my elderly grandfather, who has Alzheimer’s and can’t drive,” said Arash Namvar, part of the TextBer team. “I was thinking how simple it could be to just set up two addresses in my Uber account for him, to get a ride from his house to my house.”
A 2014 Pew Research Center report found 77 percent of Americans over 65 own a cellphone, but only 18 percent of them have smartphones. Pittsburgh region smartphone figures weren’t available in the Pew report, but 2013 census figures show that 17 percent of Allegheny County’s population is 65 or over.
The group of programmers came together during the recent “Hackathon for a Cause” at the San Jose, Calif.-based Coding Dojo boot camp.
To use the TextBer program, users can sign up for an Uber account or have someone else do it for them, then link it to the TextBer service. When the user needs a ride, a text message is sent to an assigned number.
Josh Huang, another programmer on the TextBer team, said while the group started out focusing on elderly users, they realized the program could have implications for lower-income communities as well.
“Smartphones are expensive, and not everyone can spend the $1,000 a year on a phone and a plan,” he said.
To sign someone up for TextBer’s beta, which will be open Friday, go to http://textber.co/.
Kim Lyons: klyons@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1241.
First Published: June 11, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
